The Tug of War (Africa)

Father Sparrow was grumpy. “I went to the river to bathe in our favorite place,” he told Mother Sparrow who was sitting in the nest on her eggs, “and there was Crocodile, splashing muddy water everywhere. When I politely asked him to be more careful, he told me to find another place.”
As if this wasn’t bad enough, suddenly there was an enormous jolt, nearly toppling the nest. Father Sparrow saw Brother Elephant walking away. He yelled, “Hey Brother, you nearly pushed my wife off the nest. She’s sitting on our eggs you know. She almost fell. The eggs nearly spilled out.” Brother Elephant shrugged and began to walk away, without an apology. 

Father Sparrow was so mad he warned, “If you do this again I’ll tie you up and you’ll never get out.”

Brother Elephant laughed. “Go ahead. Tie me up. There aren’t enough sparrows in the world to keep me from untying myself.” He kept on walking and bumping into trees.

When Father Sparrow went to have his afternoon bath, he became even more angry; Crocodile was still splashing, muddying up the water. “If you are in this pool when I come to bathe next time, I will tie you up.”

Crocodile grinned, splashing even more ferociously. “Go ahead, Tie me up. With my sharp teeth there isn’t a rope strong enough to keep me from freeing myself.”

Father Sparrow flew back to the nest. He and Mother Sparrow made their plan. After singing for help from friends and relatives, hundreds of sparrows appeared, approved the plan, and went to work twisting and plating green creeper vines.

Pretty soon Brother Elephant came crashing through the forest, into the tree where Mother Sparrow was nesting. “Ready to tie me up?” sneered Brother Elephant.

Father Sparrow and Mother Sparrow looked at each other and smiled. “Yes, we are.” With a nod, all the sparrows holding up the long green rope in their mouths flew up and down, in and out, around Brother Elephant’s body until he was bound as tightly as the sparrows could manage. Brother Elephant laughed, ready to burst out.

Mother Sparrow said politely, “We would greatly appreciate it if you would lie here, just for a few minutes, if you wouldn’t mind.”

“As you like,” snickered Brother Elephant.

The sparrows flew away, holding the rope, twisting and turning it among and around bushes and trees, choosing the strongest plants with the deepest roots. When they came to the river Crocodile saw the rope and giggled. “Go ahead, tie me up. Have fun.” The sparrows began twisting and pushing and pulling, in and out, up and down, around and around until the green rope was tight against Crocodile’s body.

“Now, when I say pull, pull as hard as you can and don’t stop until you’re free,” yelled Father Sparrow to Brother Elephant and then to Crocodile. When all the sparrows had flown to the tops of trees to watch, Father Sparrow shouted, “Pull!”

All of a sudden Crocodile’s body was jerked out of the water, up on to the riverbank, slithering against nettles and thorns. When he tried to gnaw the rope, it tightened. At the same time, Brother Elephant found himself dragged toward the river, crashing into sharp-edged bushes and sturdy trees. The harder they pulled, the more tangled they became.

As sunset approached, neither animal was any closer to freeing himself. Pride kept them silent. When Crocodile saw other animals approach the river to drink and bathe. he finally spoke to Father Sparrow. “You are stronger than I thought. If you untie me, I promise never to use your bathing place again.”

When Brother Elephant saw animals laughing at his condition, he whispered to Father Sparrow, “If you untie me, I promise never to bump into trees ever again.”

Father and Mother Sparrow talked it over. Soon, all the sparrow hopped and pulled and pushed and pecked until Crocodile was free. Mortified, he murmured a weak thank you and slithered away. The sparrows then freed Elephant, who couldn’t believe a tiny bird could be so strong.

From that day on, Father Sparrow enjoyed his daily bath and Mother Sparrow sat on her eggs with no fear of falling out of the tree

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NOVEMBER 2024 Monthly stories